Recently, keeping the healthy and beautiful skins has become a matter of great concern without distinction of age or sex. The skin is principally classified into three layers, i.e., the epidermis, the derma, and the hypodermic tissue. Of the three layers, the derma is markedly important for keeping the skin structure. The derma is a binding tissue having a structure in which, principally, fibroblasts, collagen fibers, elastic fibers (elastin), and the like, spread in a composite, three-dimensional pattern. The proteins, such as collagen, which constitute the fibers, are produced by the fibroblasts. The fibroblasts keep the balance of synthesis and decomposition of the proteins and keep the condition of the binding tissue. The strength, the stretchability, and the elasticity of the skin are thereby maintained.
Due to internal factors, such as aging, and external factors, such as ultraviolet light and active oxygen, the binding tissue of the derma decreases, and the functions which the skin keeps originally, such as contractibility, flexibility, and moisturizing character, become weak. As a result, various troubles of the skin, such as the occurrence of wrinkles and sagging, and the lowering of suppleness and elasticity, occur. It is considered that the important factors for the skin aging symptoms as described above are the decrease of the number of the fibroblasts of the derma of the skin, the lowering of the functions of the fibroblasts of the derma of the skin, and the decrease of matrix fibers which are produced by the fibroblasts. Therefore, in order for an anti-aging external preparation for skin having an action of preventing and improving skin aging to be obtained, attempts have heretofore been made to search and blend a constituent having a function of promoting the growth of fibroblasts.
For example, in cited literatures 1 and 2, it is reported that extracts of plants, such as Lens esculenta, Piper longum, Centella asiatica, Ocimum sanctum, Ocimum tenuiflorum, and Ocimurn album, and a hibiscus extract have the fibroblast growth activity, and that the substances described above may be blended in anti-aging cosmetic preparations, and the like.
However, in the cases of the skin aging, cellular proliferative potential of fibroblast decreasing with age, such as the lowering of a cell division rate of the fibroblasts, occurs. With the conventional agents for growing fibroblasts, the problems are encountered in that, though the conventional agents for growing fibroblasts are effective for young fibroblasts, the conventional agents for growing fibroblasts are not always capable of exhibiting a sufficient growth promoting effect with respect to aged fibroblasts. Thus there is a strong demand for development of a novel substance which is capable of enhancing the growth of the aged fibroblasts.
It has been known that a yeast extract has a collagen production promoting action (in patent literature 3), a moisturizing effect (in patent literature 4), a cell activating action, and a hyaluronic acid production promoting action (in patent literature 5). The yeast extract is blended in external preparations for skin, such as the cosmetic preparations.
In the field of Chinese medicine, it has been known that a safflower extract has a vitiated blood improving action. For the purposes of beauty culture, the safflower extract is used for improvement of the cold of the whole body (improvement of blood flow at skin distal areas), the improvement of a pimple, and treatment for atopic dermatitis (in patent literature 6). Also, it has been reported that the safflower extract has elastase inhibitory activity (in patent literature 7). Further, the safflower extract is blended in an anti-aging external preparation for skin, or the like, for obtaining a cell activating action (in patent literature 8).